Origin

Lovers of art will know that cartoons were not originally meant to be funny. They were originally full-size drawings made on paper as a design for a painting, fresco, or tapestry. The word seems to have become attached to cartoons in the modern sense in the 19th century, with the first record of its use coming from the magazine Punch in 1843. The word was applied to animated films in the early years of the 20th century. The word is from Italian cartone, literally ‘big card’, from Latin carta or charta, the source of card. Carton (early 19th century) comes from the same source, but arrived in English via French, as does cartridge (late 16th century) both typically made of light cardboard.